Committee  on  Indian  Affairs.  Report 


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THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


THE  COLLECTION  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINIANA 

PRESENTED  BY 

J.  G.  deR.  Hamilton 

Cp970.03 
U58c23 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00032204695 

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be  taken  from  the 
Library  building. 


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3  •& 

3 1st  Congress,  I*    gj  "~j 

1st  Session. 


IN  SENATE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

February  22,  1830. 

Head,  and  ordered  to  be  printed. 
Mr.  White  made  the  following 

REPORT: 

iVie  Committee  on  Indian  Affairs,  to  whom  was  referred  that  part  of  the 
President's  Message,  dated  the  eighth  day  of  December  last,  which 
relates  to  Indian  Affairs,  have  had  the  same  under  consideration, 
and  ask  leave  to  submit  the  following  report: 

Every  thing  which  relates  to  those  Indian  tribes  or  nations  with  which 
we  have  political  relations,  created  or  regulated  by  treaties,  is  becoming, 
every  year,  more  and  more  interesting;  especially  those  relating  to  such  as 
reside  within  any  of  the  States  of  the  Union,  or  of  the  Territories  belonging 
to  it.  The  matters  communicated  by  the  President,  in  his  Message,  relative 
to  the  Cherokees,  are  of  the  most  delicate  and  interesting  character,  whether 
considered  in  relation  to  the  United  States,  to  the  States  of  Georgia  and  Ala- 
bama, or  to  the  Cherokee  Nation.  The  committee  have  employed  them- 
selves assiduously  in  their  investigation,  with  an  anxious  wish  to  avail  them- 
selves of  all  the  information  within  their  reach,  and  desirous  to  recommend 
something  to  the  Senate,  which,  if  productive  of  no  positive  good,  will  at 
least  have  the  merit  of  not  farther  embarrassing  questions,  already  sufficient- 
ly complicated. 

With  this  nation,  the  United  States  have  formed  a  number  of  treaties, 
commencing  as  early  as  the  year  1785,  and  ending  in  the  year  1819. 
At  the  formation  of  the  first,  the  Indians  occupied  portions  of  territory  with-* 
in  the  chartered  limits  of  the  States  of  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina-,  and 
of  Georgia.  Since  that  period,  North  Carolina  ceded  a  part  of  her  territory, 
on  which  a  portion  of  these  Indians  resided,  to  the  United  States;  and  that 
territory,  according  to  the  terms  of  the  deed  of  cession,  has  been  since 
formed  into  the  State  of  Tennessee.  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  amicably 
settled  the  boundary  between  them;  and  by  an  argeement  between  the  Unit- 
ed States  and  Georgia,  dated  in  the  year  1802,  the  United  States  acquired 
the  title  to  a  portion  of  territory,  out  of  which  the  State  of  Alabama,  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  State  of  Mississippi,  have  been  since  formed.  And  now, 
it  so  happens,  that  a  part  of  the  Cherokees  still  reside  within  the  States  of 
North  Carolina  and  Georgia,  according  to  their  present  boundaries,  as  well  as 
within  the  limits  of  Tennessee  and  of  Alabama.  Latterly,  Georgia,  in  the  exer- 
cise, as  she  supposes,  of  her  sovereign  powers,  haa  extended  her  laws  over  t£ic 


[  61   j 


g 


whole  of  the  &tate,  and  subjected  the  Indians  to  her  jurisdiction^  Meantime, 
the  Cherokees  have  formed  a  civil  government  of  their  own,  entirely  indepen- 
dent of  any  State,  claiming  to  have  a  right  to-do  so  in  virtue  of  their  origin- 
al title  to  the  lands  on  which  they  reside,  and  relying,  likewise,  upon  the 
guarantee  of  their  country*  in  several  of  their  treaties  formed  with  the  Unit- 
ed States.  They  have  called  upon  the  Executive  to  make  good  this  gua- 
rantee, by  preventing  the  operation  of  the  laws  of  either  Georgia  or  Alaba- 
ma, within  those  limits  secured  to  them  by  the  said  treaties.  To  this  appli- 
cation the  President  has  replied,  that  he  has  no  power  to  check  the  opera- 
tion of  the  laws  of  those  States,  within  their  respective  limits  ;  that  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States  forbids  the  formation  of  any  new  State  within 
the  limits  of  an  old  one,  without  its  consent;  therefore,  the  Cherokees1  can 
not  be  recognized  as  a  separate  State,  within  those  limits  where  they  now 
reside;  and  that,  if  they  choose  to  remain  there,  they  shall  be  protected  in 
doing  so,  but  that  they  must  submit  to  the  laws  of  the  respective  States,  at 
the  same  time  they  are  protected  by  them,  and  earnestly  recommends  to 
them  to  consent  to  exchange  the  country  where  they  now  reside,  for  one 
West  of  the  Mississippi,  owned  by  the  United  States,  and  not  yet  included 
within  the  bounds  of  any  State  or  Territory,  where  they  can  be  again  united 
with  that  portion  of  their  nation  which  has  already  emigrated,  and  where 
the  United  States  can,  and  will,  make  them  for  ever  secure  from  any  inter- 
ruption from  the  whites,  or  from  any  other  nation  or  people  whatever. 

To  this  proposition  the  Indians  have  given  an  absolute  refusal,  still  insist- 
ing on  a  fulfilment  of  their  treaty  stipulations. 

The  laws  of  Georgia  will  commence  their  operation  in  the  month  of  June 
next.  It  is  easy  to  foresee  the  painful  consequences  which  will  probably 
follow,  from  laws  operating  over  the  same  territory,  at  one  and  the  same 
time,  and  flowing  from  jurisdictions  or  sovereigns,  independent  of  each  other. 
The  evil  will  not  stop  here;  already  we  are  advised  Mississippi  has  passed 
a  law,  incorporating  her  Indian  population  with  her  citizens;  that  Alabama 
has  extended  her  Jaws  over  the  Creek  Indians  within  her  limits;  and,  before 
long,  we  may  anticipate  that  the  like  policy  will  be  pursued  by  several  other 
States. 

From  the  information  before  the  committee,  no  hope  need  be  entertained- 
that  either  of  those  States  will  change  their  policy,  and  repeal  those  laws;  a 
period  has  arrived,  when  the  United  States  have  a  duty  to  perform,  which 
must  be  discharged,  in  good  faith,  to  the  States  concerned,  to  the  Indians, 
and  with  a  sacred  regard  to  their  own  high  character. 

In  the  view  which  the  committee  have  of  this  subject,  they  believe  it 
would  be  unnecessary,  if  not  improper,  for  them  to  offer  any  opinion  upon 
the  points  in  dispute  between  the  contending  parties,  because  there  can  Ire 
no  reason  to  suppose  any  additional  enactments  by  Congress  are  necessary 
to  put  it  in  the  power  of  the  Executive  to  make  good  the  guaranties  con- 
tained in  the  treaties,  if,  in  his  judgment,  they  ought  to  have  the  construc- 
tion for  which  the  Cherokees  insist,  and  his  duty,  according  to  the  constitu- 
tion, would  authorize  him  to  oppose  the  operation  of  the  State  laws. 

In  1S02,  Congress  passed  an  act  to  regulate  trade  and  intercourse  with  the 
Indians,  the  provisions  of  which,  connected  with  the  treaties^  are  sufficiently 
broad  to  authorize  the  Executive  to  give  effect  to  every  stipulation^  which  it 
is  the  duty  of  the  United  States  to  perform. 

The  failure  to  comply  with  the  wishes  of  the  Cherokees,  as  it  appears  to 
the  Committee,  proceeded  net  from  a  defect  in  the  law,  but  because,  in  the 


3  I  61   3 

opinion  of  the  Executive,  constitutional  objections  exist,  which  it  is  not  in 
the  power  of  Congress  to  remove,  by  any  law  which  they  could  enact. 

The  difficulties  which  have  actually  occurred,  were  foreseen  some  years 
since,  and  successive  Administrations  seem  to  have  been  anxiously  endea- 
voring to  avoid  them;  and  the  only  remedy  suggested  by  any,  appears  to 
have  been,  to  provide  a  country  West  of  the  Mississippi,  beyond  the  limits 
of  any  State  or  organized  Territory;  to  have  it  laid  off  and  divided  into  as 
many  districts  as  would  accommodate  all  the  Indians  residing  within  any 
of  the  States  or  Territories;  to  have  those  districts  so  described,  by  natural 
or  artificial  marks,  that  each  could  be  known  from  every  other;  and  then,  by 
fair  and  peaceable  means,  to  induce  the  Indians  to  exchange  the  lands  where 
they  live,  for  some  of  those  thus  described,  and  to  emigrate.  Suitable 
country,  as  is  believed,  has  been  procured,  but,  owing  to  some  cause  or  other 
the  districts  have  not,  as  yet,  been  laid  off,  and  properly  described.  Ex- 
changes, however,  to  a  considerable  extent,  have  been  made,  and  consequent 
emigrations  from  various  tribes  have  taken  place.  A  portion  of  the  Ohero- 
kees,  equal,  as  is  believed,  to  from  one  third  to  one  half  of  the  whole,  has 
actually  removed  to,  and  settled  in,  a  country  well  suited  to  their  wants 
and  wishes,  Westof  the  Mississippi.  There  is  good  reason  to  believe  many 
more  would  have  removed  before  this  time,  except  for  various  causes,  which, 
as  yet,  the  United  States  have  not  been  able  to  overcome.  The  principal 
one  is,  the  idea  of  a  separate  and  independent  State  of  their  own,  where  the}* 
now  -live.  This  is  the  work,  principally,  of  comparatively  a  few,  who  are 
either  white  men  connected  with  the  nations  by  marriage,  or  of  those  of 
mixed  blood,  born  in  the  nation,  who  are  well  educated  and  intelligent,  who 
have  acquired  considerable  property,  and,  thro'  the  annuities  paid  by  the 
United  States,  and  by  other  means,  are  yearly  adding  to  it.  This  class  of 
people,  it  is  believed,  do  not  altogether  equal  one  hundred  in  number.  A 
very  small  portion  of  full  blooded  Indians  can  be  named,  who  are  in  thr- 
like   circumstances,  or  who  have  much  agency  in  their  public  affairs. 

Those  who  are  in  public  employ  have  an  influence  almost  unbounded  over 
the  nation.  They  fill  all  the  offices  created  by  their  laws,  and  have  the  en- 
tire management  of  the  funds  derived  from  every  source.  The  rest  of  the 
nation  may  be  divided  into  two  classes.  The  one  owning  some  small 
property,  and  having  settlements  of  their  own,  upon  which  they  make  a  suf- 
ficiency to  support  themselves  and  their  families,  and  but  little  surplus, 
Those  of  the  other,  comprehending,  as  is  believed,  the  mass  of  the  popula- 
tion, are  as  poor  and  degraded  as  can  well  be  imagined.  They  may  be  said 
to  live  without  hope  of  better  circumstances;  they  have  almost  no  property, 
and  seem  destiute  of  the  means  or  prospect  of  acquiring  an}\  There  is  very 
little  game  in  their  country.  They  are  without  industry,  without  informa- 
tion, unlettered,  and  subsisting  chiefly  upon  what  they  can  beg,  and  upon  the 
birds  and  fish  they  can  procure.  A  stranger  who  travels  along  a  leading 
road  through  the  nation,  or  makes  but  a  short  stay  in  it,  Will  form  a  very  er- 
roneous opinion  of  the  true  condition  of  the  great  mass  of  the  population. 
He  has  intercourse  only  with  those  of  the  first  or  second  class  before  men- 
tioned, and  forms  his  opinions  of  all,  from  the  condition  of  those  with  whom 
.  he  associates.  It  may  then  be  asked,  why  do  these  people  refuse  to  emi- 
grate? The  answer  is,  those  who  have  influence  over  them  use  every  means 
in  their  power  to  prevent  them.  They  misrepresent  the  country  offered, 
west  of  the  Mississippi.  They  use  persuasion,  while  it  answers  the  pur- 
pose, and  threats,    when  persuasion  is  likely    to  fail.      The  committee  are 

"a 


t  61  ]  4  . 

well  satisfied,  that  every  humane  and  benevolent  individual,  who  is  anxious 
for  the  welfare  of  the  great  body  of  the  Cherokees,  and  is  correctly  inform- 
ed of  their  true  condition,  must  feel  desirous  for  their  removal,  provided  it 
can  be  effected  with  their  consent. 

Other  strong  inducements  for  this  desire,  must  be  found  in  the  condition 
to  which  they  are  now  brought,  by  the  collision  between  them  and  the  laws 
of  the  States  in  which  they  reside. 

Although  the  committee,  for  the  reasons  before  given,  consider  it  unne- 
cessary, if  not  improper,  in  them,  to  offer  any  opinion  upon  the  validity  of 
the  conflicting  claims  of  the  parties;  yet,  it  may  not  be  without  its  use  to 
call  the  attention  of  the  Senate  to  some  of  the  leading  facts,  and  main  points, 
upon  which  the  controversy  has  depended,  and  must  hereafter  depend. 

The  title  of  the  Cherokees  must  rest  upon  their  original  right  of  occupancy, 
and  upon  the  treaties  formed  with  the  United  States. 

As  to  the  first,  ''their  title  by  occupancy/'  the  answer  would  be,  when 
the  country  was  discovered,  they  were  savages;  and  that  this  discovery,  of 
itself,  gave  a  right  to  form  settlements,  and  to  exclude  all  other  civilized  na- 
tions. That  it  conferred  upon  the  nation  of  the  discoverer  and  settler,  the 
right  to  acquire  the  usufructuary  interest  which  the  natives  had.  It  would 
be  added,  that,  at  a  very  early  period,  the  Cherokees  formed  a  treaty  with 
Great  Britain,  by  which  they  gave  up  their  independence,  and  put  them 
selves  under  the  protection  of  his  Britannic  Majesty.  That  they  took  a  part 
with  the  British  Crown  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  That  the  American 
arms  were  employed  against  them,  and  they  conquered,  when  Independence 
was  acknowledged,  and  the  treaty  of  peace  made  with  Great  Britain.  That 
this  conquest  conferred  upon  the  respective  States,  within  whose  limits  they 
were,  all  the  right?,  and  gave  them  all  the  powers  which  the  Crown  had, 
prior  to  the  Revolution.  That  this  right  still  continued  in  the  States,  and 
never  was  yielded  to  the  United  States.  That,  in  securing  these  rights,  they 
severally  exercisfed  these  powers,  from  the  year  1776  up  to  the  year  1785,  in 
such  manner,  as,  in  their  sovereign  will,  they  believed  to  be  wise  and  just, 
without  any  control  from  the  United  States. 

That,  although,  in  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  there  is  a  power  given  to 
the  United  States  to  make  treaties  with  Indians  residing  out  of  their  limits, 
yet  there  is,  in  the  ninth  article,  an  express  saving  to  each  State,  of  all  its 
legislative  rights,  roithin  its  chartered  limits. 

As  to  the  second  point,  the  political  condition  of  the  Indians,  as  establish- 
ed by  treaties  between  them  and  the  United  States.  The  first  and  only 
treaty  with  the  Cherokees,  during  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  was  con- 
cluded in  November,  1785. 

By  that  treaty,  a  boundary  is  established,  which  allots  to  the  Indians  a 
great  extent  of  country,  within  the  acknowledged  limits  of  both  North  Ca- 
rolina and  Georgia,  and  over  which  those  States  had  actually  legislated;  had 
previously  authorized  by  law  the  sales  of  land  therein;  a  considerable  quantity 
had  in  fact  been  sold  to  individuals,  and  the  consideration  money  paid  to  the 
State. 

Against  this  treaty  both  Georgia  and  North  Carolina  entered  their  solemn 
protests,  it  being,  as  they  alleged,  in  violation  of  their  legislative  rights. 

Not  very  long  after  this  treaty,  the  Cherokees  waged  a  war  against  the 
citizens  of  those  States,  which  continued  until  some  short  time  prior  to  the 
treaty  of  Holston,  concluded  in  the  year  1791. 

This  was  the  first  treaty  made  with  those  Indians  under  the  authority  of 


5  [  61   J 

the  present  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  by  it  a  new  boundary  is 
agreed  upon,  by  which  the  limits  before  allotted  to  the  Indians  are  reduced 
to  a  smaller  compass. 

By  the  seventh  article,  "  the  United  Slates  solemly  guaranty  to  t he- 
Cherokee  nation,  all  their  lands  not  hereby  ceded." 

On  the  seventh  day  of  February,  1792,  an  additional  article  to  this  last 
mentioned  treaty,  is  agreed  upon,  by  which  an  addition  of  live  hundred  dol- 
lars is  made  to  the  annuity  stipulated  in  the  former  treaty. 

In  June,  1794,  another  treaty  is  made  between  the  parties,  by  which  the 
provisions  of  the  treaty  of  1791,  are  revived,  an  addition  made  to  thejr  an- 
nuity, and  provision  for  running  and  marking  the  boundary  line. 

In  October,  1798,  an  additional  treaty  is  concluded,  by  which  former  trear 
ties  are  revived,  the  boundary  of  Indian  lands  curtailed  by  another  cession  to 
the.  United  States,  for  an  additional  compensation. 

In  October,  1804,  another  treaty  is  concluded,  by  which  more  land  is 
ceded  by  the  Indians,  for  a  consideration  agreed  upon  and  specified  in  thfc 
treaty. 

In  October,  1805,  two  treaties  are  made,  by  which  the  Indians  cede  an 
additional  quantity  of  land. 

On  the  seventh  day  of  January,  180G,  another  treaty  is  concluded,  in 
which  more  land  is  ceded  to  the  United  States;  and  in  September,  1S07,  an 
explanation  is  agreed  upon  of  the  boundary  line  intended  in  the  treaty  last 
mentioned. 

On  the  22d  day  of  March,  1816,  another  treaty  is  concluded,  by  which 
the  Indians  relinquish  their  title  to  lands  in  South  Carolina,  for  which  the 
United  States  engage  South  Carolina  will  make  payment;  and  on  the  same 
day,  another  treaty  is  made,  in  which  the  Indians  relinquish  to  the  United 
Slates  their  claim  to  more  lands,  and  agree  to  allow  the  use  of  the  water 
courses  in  their  remaining  country,  and  also  to  permit  roads  to  be  made 
through  the  same. 

On  the  14th  of  September,  1S16,  another  treaty  is  made,  by  which  an  ad- 
ditional quantity  of  lands  is  ceded  to  the  United  States. 

On  the  8th  day  of  July,  1S17,  another  treaty  is  concluded,  by  which  an 
exchange  of  lands  is  agreed  on,  and  a  plan  for  dividing  the  Cherokecs  settled, 
One  part  to  remain  East  of  the  Mississippi;  another  to  emigrate  West  of  the 
Mississippi,  to  a  country  designated  in  the  treaty;  and  those  who  might  hap- 
pen to  fall  within  the  territory  ceded,  to  have  an  election  to  become  cili 
zens  of  the  United  States,  and  each  head  of  an  Indian  family  to  have  a  re 
scrvation  of  six  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land,  to  include  his  improve- 
ments. 

And  on  the  27th  February,  1S19,  another  treaty  is  concluded,  intended 
to  be  in  execution  of  the  stipulations  contained  in  that  of  1S17,  in  several 
particulars,  and  in  which  an  additional  tract  of  country  is  ceded  to  the  Unit- 
ed States. 

These,  as  the  committee  believe,  are  all  the  treaties  between  the  United 
States  and  the  Cherokee  nation  on  the  East  side  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
within  the  limits  of  any  of  the  United  States. 

In  several  of  them  there  are  stipulations  for  roads,ihe  navigation  of  rivers, 
and  the  establishment  of  ferries,  within  the  bounds  reserved  by  the  Chero- 
kees  to  themselves,  and  guarantied  to  them  by  the  United  States. 

In  virtue  of  these  treaties,  the  Cherokees  contend  they  have  a  valid  and 
complete  title  to  the  lands  of  which  they  are  in   possession;  and  that  they 


[  61   ]  6  . 

have  a  right  to  establish  such  government,  as,  in  their  own  opinion,  is  besi 
suited  to  their  condition;  and  that  such  government  is  independent  of  any 
of  the  States  within  the  limits  of  which  any  portions  of  their  territory  may 
happen  to  be;  and  that  the  United  States  stand  solemnly  jAdeged  to  pro 
tcct  them  in  the  peaceable  enjoyment  of  it,  against  all  the  world. 

On  the  other  side,  the  States  may  admit,  that,  if  the  political  condition  of 
the  Cherokces  was  to  be  considered,  as  it  related  to  the  rights  and  powers 
of  the  United  Stales,  only,  then  it  is  true,  they  are,  and  ought  to  be,  a  com- 
munity sovereign,  in  all  respects,  those  only  excepted  in  which  they 
had  by  the  treaties  expressly  surrendered  their  independence;  and  still  con- 
tend that  Georgia  was  a  sovereign  and  independent  State,  from  the  4th  day 
of  July,  1776,  a  period  anterior  to  the  Union  of  the  States,  under  either 
the  Articles  of  Confederation,  or  of  the  present  Constitution.  That,  as  a 
sovereign  State,  she  had  a  right  to  govern  every  human  being  within  her 
limits,  according  to  her  own  will,  and  to  dispose  of  all  the  vacant  lands, 
when,  to  whom,  and  for  what  consideration,  she  pleased.  That  she  is  still 
in  the  possession  of  all  those  rights  and  powers,  excepting  only  suchas  she  has 
expressly  surrendered.  That  she  never  has  surrendered  to  the  United  States, 
either  by  a  treaty,  or  by  any  other  means,  the  power  to  dispose  of  her  vacant  ter- 
ritory, or  to  authorize  the  establishment  of  a  Government  within  her  limits, 
without  her  consent.  So  far  from  it,  that  the  9th  article  of  the  Confedera- 
tion forbids  any  violation  of  her  legislative  rights,  and  expressly  provides 
that  no  State  shall  be  deprived  of  territory  for  the  benefit  of  the  United 
States;  and  that  the  3d  section  of  the  4th  article  of  the  Constitution  express- 
ly sa}"s:  No  new  Slate  shall  be  formed  within  the  limits  of  one  or  more  of 
the  old,  without  then  consent.  And  the  10th  amendment  of  the  Constitu- 
tion declares,  that  even  "private  property  shall  not  be  taken  for  public  use, 
without  making  just  compensation."  That,  if  private  property  cannot  be 
taken  without  compensation,  the  conclusion  is  very  strong,  that  it  was  not 
intended  to  give  a  power  to  take  the  property  which  belonged  to  a  sovereign 
State,  under  any  circumstances  whatever.  That  she  never  did  give  her  con- 
sent to  this  disposition  of  either  her  jurisdiction  or  of  her  territory;  so  far 
from  it,  she  entered  her  solemn  protest  against  the  first  treaty  formed  in  the 
year  1785,  as  violative  of  her  rights,  and  that  no  inference  can  be  drawn  to 
her  disadvantage,  from  her  silence,  or  from  any  thing  she  may  have  said  in 
relation  to  any  subsequent  treaty;  because,  in  each  of  them,  a  change  was 
made,  by  which  a  portion  of  her  territory  and  jurisdiction  was  restored  to 
her,  and  thus  her  condition  rendered  better  than  it  was  under  the  treaty  of 
1185,  against  which  she  had  protested. 

She  may  further  insist,  that  the  second  section  of  the  second  article  of  the 
Constitution,  which  gives  to  the  President,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of 
two-thirds  of  the  Senate,  power  to  make  treaties,  has  no  application  to  In- 
dians within  the  chartered  limits  of  any  of  the  States;  nor  the  eighth  section 
of  the  first  article,  which  gives  Congress  power  to  regulate  commerce  with 
the  Indian  tribes.  That  if  Indians  can  be  treated  with,  it  must  be  those 
only  who  reside  out  of  the  limits  of  the  States,  and  those  with  whom  com- 
merce may  be  regulated  must  be  similarly  situated;  otherwise,  that  part  of 
the  second  section  of  the  first  article,  which  forbids  the  enumeration  of  In- 
dians residing  within  the  States,  and  "not  taxed,"  will  be  without  any  ap- 
propriate meaning.  That  although  the  United  States  may  have  contracted 
obligations  with  the  Cherokee  nation,  yet  they  had  previously  contracted 
those  equally  as  solemn  with  each  of  the  States.     That  in  the  4th  section  of 


7  [61   ] 

the  4th  article  of  the  Constitution,  the  following  pledge  is  given:  "  The  Unit- 
ed States  shall  solemnly  guuranty  to  every  State  in  this  Union  a  republi- 
can form  of  Government,  and  shall  protect  each  of  them  against  invasion, 
and,  on  application  of  the  Legislature,  or  of  the  Executive,  (when  the  Le- 
gislature cannot  be  convened)  against  domestic  violence." 

She  may  ask,  how  can  Georgia  have  a  "republican  form  of  government," 
co-extensive  with  her  limits,  unless  a  majority  of  her  citizens  are  permitted 
to  prescribe  rules,  to  which  all  must  conform?  How  will  the  United  States 
have  made  good  the  -"'guarantee  against  domestic  violence"  if  they  permit 
a  portion  of  the  population  within  her  limits  to  establish  a  Government,  con- 
trary to  her  will,  with  authority  to  prescribe  rules  inconsistent  with  those 
prescribed  by  herself?  She  may  add,  that  it  was  in  the  confidence  that  this 
"solemn  guarantee"  would  be  sacredly  kept,  that  she  consented  to  give  up 
any  portion  of  her  sovereignty,  and  become  a  member  of  the  Union. 

In  addition,  she  may  urge,  that,  in  1S02,  upwards  of  twenty-seven  years 
ago,  she  made  a  contract  with  the  United  States,  by  which  they  became 
bound  to  purchase  any  claim  which  the  Cherokee  nation,  or  anj  other,  might 
set  up  to  lands  within  her  limits,  as  soon  as  such  purchase  could  be  made 
upon  reasonable  terms.  That,  for  this  stipulation,  she  paid,  at  the  time,  a 
valuable  consideration,  in  lands  which  she  conveyed.  That,  after  waiting 
thus  long,  and  seeing  for  several  years  past,  the  prospect  of  a  compliance  on 
the  part  of  the  United  States  decreasing,  she  had  determined  to  exert  her 
own  sovereign  powers,  over  her  whole  territory,  in  such  manner  as  she  be- 
lieves will  be  just  to  her  whole  population.  That  the  object  of  this  agree- 
ment was  to  obtain  a  benefit  for  herself,  within  her  reserved  limits,  and  that, 
if  she  should  fail  to  receive  the  benefit  she  expected,  she  will  take  care  not 
to  suffer  her  condition  to  be  made  worse. 

That  she  is  yet  sovereign,  within  her  own  limits,  to  every  extend  she  was 
when  she  became  a  member  of  the  Union,  except  so  far  as  she  expressly 
surrendered  her  sovereignty  by  the  terms  of  the  Constitution.  That,  al- 
though she  i3  determined  to  use  her  power  within  her  limits,  yet  she  owes 
it  to  her  own  character  so  to  exert  it  as  most  to  promote  the  happiness  of 
every  rational  being  who  may  remain  subject  to  her  control,  no  matter  what, 
may  be  his  color,  or  in  what  language  he  may  make  known  his  wants. 

Alabama  and  Mississippi  may  say  they  were  a  part  of  the  State  of  Geor- 
gia, up  to  the  time  of  the  compact  and  cession,  in  1802,  and  that  they  have 
been  erected  upon  parts  of  the  territory  then  ceded  to  the  United  States;  and 
that,  with  the  exception  of  the  difference,  produced  by  not  owning  the  soil 
within  their  limits,  they  are  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  every  argument  which 
Georgia  could  urge  in  this  controversy. 

Should  these  arguments,  or  any  others,  in  favor  of  the  States,  have  the 
effect  of  proving  that  the  United  States  have  not  the  poioer  to  comply  with 
the  stipulations  contained  in  their  treaties  with  the  Cherokees,  on  account  of 
prior  and  superior  obligations  which  they  had  contracted,  it  could  not,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  Committee,  take  any  thing  from  that  character  for  integrity 
and  good  faith  to  which  they  are  so  justly  entitled.  None  could  suspect 
that  the  obligation  was  contracted  with  a  design  to  mislead  or  to  deceive; 
and  while  the  United  States  are  both  able  and  willing  to  make  a  full  and  ade- 
quate compensation  for  all  that  may  be  lost  for  want  of  a  specific  perform- 
ance of  their  agreement,  their  faith  is  preserved  as  inviolate  as  it  would  be 
if  all  their  stipulations  were  specifically  complied  with.  Should  the  Indians 
continue  determined  to  reside  where  thev  now  are,  and  become  subject  t© 


[  61    ]  8  . 

the  laws  of  the  respective  States  in  which  they  reside,  no  difficulty  can  oic= 
cur,  as  your  Committee  see  no  reason  to  apprehend  that  either  of  the  States- 
have  it  in  contemplation  to  force**them  to  abandon  the  country  in  which 
they  dwell;  but,  if  they  determine  to  remain,  and  continue  to  insist  on  a 
separate  and  independent  government,  and  refuse  obedience  to  the  laws  of 
the  States,  the  consequences  which  must  inevitably  ensue,  are  such  as  the 
humane  and  benevolent  cannot  reflect  upon  without  feelings  of  the  deepest 
sorrow  and  distress. 

If,  on  the  contrary,  they  should  consent  to  exchange  their  present  places 
of  residence  for  a  country  West  of  the  Mississippi,  it  is  in  the  power  of  the 
United  States  to  furnish  one,  suited,  as  the  Committee  believe,  to  their  wants 
and  condition;  where  they  can  be  secured  against  the  intrusion  of  any  other 
people;  where,  under  the  protection  of  the  United-States,  and  with  their  aid, 
they  can  pursue  their  plan  of  civilization,  and,  ere  long,  be  in  the  peace- 
able enjoyment  of  a  civil  government  of  their  own  choice,  and  where  Chris- 
tian and  philanthropist  can  have  ample  scope  for  their  labors  of  love  and  be- 
nevolence. 

Your  Committee  are  of  opinion,  that  ample  means  should  be  placed,  by 
Congress,  in  the  power  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  to  autho- 
rize and  enable  him  to  have  the  country  West  of  the  Mississippi,  out  of  the 
limits  of  all  the  States,  laid  off  into  as  many  districts  as  may  be  deemed  ne- 
cessary for  the  residence  of  the  Indians,  now  within  the  respective  States, 
with  which  the  United  States  have  treaties;  to  have  those  districts  accurately 
described;  and,  also,  to  make  exchanges  and  purchases  with  such  tribes,  or 
parts  of  them,  as  may  choose  to  remove;  to  give  aid  in  the  removal,  and  to  con- 
tribute, for  a  season,  to  their  support,  at  their  new  places  of  residence.  For 
which  purposes  the  committee  ask  leave  to  report  a  bill. 

A  BILL 

To  provide  for  an  exchange  of  lands  with  the  Indians  residing  in  any  of  the 
States  or  Territories,  and  for  their  removal  West  of  the  river  Missis- 
sippi. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  Slates  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  it  shall  and  may 
be  lawful  for  the  President  of  the  United  States,  to  cause  so  much  of  any 
territory,  belonging  to  the  United  States,  West  of  the  river  Mississippi,  not 
included  in  any  State,  and  to  which  the  Indian  title  has  been  extinguished, 
as  he  may  judge  necessary,  to  be  divided  into  a  suitable  number  of  districts 
for  the  reception  of  such  tribes  or  nations  of  Indians  as  may  choose  to  ex- 
change the  lands  where  they  now  reside,  and  remove  there,  and  to  cause 
each  of  said  disiricts  to  be  so  described  by  natural  or  artificial  marks,  as  to 
be  easily  distinguished  from  every  other. 

Sec.  2.  Jlnd  be  it  further  enacted,  That  it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  for 
the  President  to  exchange  any  or  all  of  such  districts,  so  to  be  laid  off  and 
described,  with  any  tribe  or  nation  of  Indians  now  residing  within  the  limits 
of  any  of  the  States  or  Territories,  and  with  which  the  United  States  have 
existing  treaties,  for  the  whole,  or  any  part  or  portion  of  the  territory 
claimed  and  occupied  by  such  tribe  or  nation,  within  the  bounds  of  any  one, 
or  more,  of  the  States  or  Territories 

Sec.  3.  Jind  be  it  further  enacted,  That,  in  the  making  of  any  such  ex-. 
change,  or  exchanges,  it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  for  the  President  solemn- 


9  [  61   ] 

ly  to  assure  the  tribe  or  nation  with  which  the  exchange  is  made,  that  the 
United  States  will  forever  secure  and  guaranty  to  them,  and  their  heirs  or 
successors,  the  country  so  exchanged  with  them,  and  that,  if  they  prefer  it,  the 
United  States  will  cause  a  patent  or  grant  to  be  made  and  executed  to  them 
for  fhesame:  Provided  always,  That  such  lands  shall  revert  to  the  United 
States,  if  the  Indians  become  extinct,  or  abandon  the  same. 

Sec.  4.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  if,  upon  any  of  the  lands  now- 
occupied  by  the  Indians,  and  to  be  exchanged  for,  there  should  be  such  im- 
provements as  add  value  to  the  land  claimed  by  any  individual  or  individu- 
als of  such  tribes  or  nations,  it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  for  the  President  to 
cause  such  value  to  be  ascertained,  by  appraisement  or  otherwise,  and  to  cause 
such  ascertained  value  to  be  paid  to  the  person  or  persons  claiming  such  im- 
provements. 

Sec.  5.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That,  upon  the  making  of  any  such 
exchange  as  is  contemplated  by  this  act,  it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  for  the 
President  to  cause  such  aid  and  assistance  to  be  furnished  to  the  emigrants, 
as  may  be  necessary  and  proper  to  enable  them  to  remove  to,  and  settle  in, 
the  country  for  which  they  may  have  exchanged;  and  also,  to  give  them 
such  aid  and  assistance  as  may  be  necessary  for  their  support  and  subsistence 
for  the  first  year  after  their  removal. 

Sec.  6.  And  be  it  farther  enacted,  That  it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  for 
the  President  to  cause  such  tribe  or  nation  to  be  protected,  at  their  new  resi- 
dence, against  all  interruption  or  disturbance  from  any  other  tribe  or  nation 
of  Indians,  or  from  any  other  person  or  persons  whatever. 

Sec.  7.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  for 
the  President  to  have  the  same  superintendence  and  care  over  any  tribe  or 
nation  in  the  country  to  which  they  may  remove,  as  contemplated  by  this 
act,  that  he  is  now  authorized  to  have  over  them  at  their  present  places  of 
residence. 

Sec.  8.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That,  for  the  purpose  of  giving  effec^ 
to  the  provisions  of  this  act,  the  sum  of  dollars  is  hereby  appro- 

priated, to  be  paid  out  of  any  money  in  the  Treasury,  not  otherwise  appro- 
priated. 


•■■*  t 


&&1 


'    .  .   / 


